The best takeaway options

Susie Burrell

At times we all need to do it, pick up something for dinner on the way home after a long day. So, what are best options when you are tired, hungry but still wanting to try and eat as healthily as you can?

Thai

Thai food is often considered a "healthy" choice thanks to its brightly-coloured vegetable dishes, but the truth is that, like many Asian cuisines, Thai food does tend to be cooked using plenty of oil and high fat sauces. For this reason, heavy curry and noodles dishes should be avoided. But if you order a plain vegetable, tofu or prawn stir fry, you could get away with as little as 10-15g of fat, or better still a soup or Thai beef salad can contain less than 10g of fat per serve.

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Japanese

A popular choice, Japanese food is generally lower in fat and calories than other cuisines, but you do need to be careful of the fried dishes. You generally cannot go wrong with sashimi or even a small amount of brown rice sushi. Bulk up the meal with miso soup, seaweed salad and edamame beans which are packed full of nutrition for very few calories.

BBQ chicken and salad

Often considered as one of the best choices nutritionally, the biggest thing to be mindful of is what part of the chicken you are eating and which type of salad you are choosing. Chicken breast and plain green or Greek salad are generally low in fat and calories, but if you choose a creamy pasta salad and the chicken drumstick, along with plenty of tasty chicken skin, your fat intake could be as high as 40g for this "healthy" choice.

Fish and salad

If you are lucky enough to have a fish shop near you, grilled fish and salad is a low-fat, nutritionally-balanced meal that will complement any diet plan if the goal is weight loss. The issue of course is that too often grilled fish is fried or battered fish served with chips, scallops and other fried accompaniments which are best left for occasional treats at the beach rather than a quick weeknight meal.

Naked burrito

Of the range of cuisines, Mexican food is generally high in fat thanks to the guacamole, sour cream and fried chips, but if you can order a naked burrito – that is the meat and salad filling minus the bread – you are left with a low calorie dinner meal packed with plenty of nutrition. If you swap the rice for extra vegetables it will be an even lighter choice.

Lebanese plate

If you can be strong enough and stay clear of the large serves of Lebanese bread and dips, the mix of tabouli, falafel, lamb or chicken skewers, kafta and cabbage rolls can offer a nutritious, filling meal for less than 15g of fat per serve. Just remember, the more vegetables and salad you eat, the lower your fat and calorie intake will be.

15 comments

Has Susie Burrell not caught up with the fact that demonising fat, as she seems to do in this article, is no longer our biggest dietary problem? Fat is flavour. It makes you feel full and if it's the right kind, will be full of nutrients. I'd be more concerned about the sugar in a Thai dish than I would the oil in it.

Commenter

The Orange Post

Location

Orange

Date and time

February 26, 2014, 11:10AM

Good point "Orange Post" - what is a good low sugar Thai option (or option for these other types) ?

Commenter

Andyha

Location

Sydney

Date and time

February 26, 2014, 12:07PM

Hmmm...probably better to stay home and have vegemite on toast.

Commenter

jpep

Date and time

February 26, 2014, 11:31AM

Since when did 'low-fat' and 'healthy' become interchangeable? As someone who has recently needed to move to a low-sodium diet I have come to realise that it's very, very difficult to even stay below 'normal' recommended levels. There's practically nothing on this supposedly healthy list that would qualify as even close to healthy based on salt content.

And I didn't see any mention of sugar, or fibre or, you know, nutrients.